When you get kicked around, all the time, it doesn’t make you stronger.
It makes you cynical.
The shift from doe-eyed excitement to jaded can happen quick.
Being taken for granted.
Used and abused.
It all takes a toll.
But more than that, it makes you apprehensive.
It changes how you meet new people and how you interact with others in your field.
Nobody wants to set out just to lose.
The most dangerous advice I’ve ever encountered is, ‘you can’t lose if you don’t try.’
Manage your expectations, don’t drown them.
I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of completing something…that wasn’t better because of the other people involved.
Even if you run an actual haberdashery, the odds are that you don’t manage it like one.
It takes a village to make a village.
You can get there on your own.
You can ‘lone wolf’ it and impose your will on your industry…and yeah, you can become a legend.
Or.
You can collaborate.
You can build a team of peers, who all bring something to the table and hold value…and together, become iconic.